Mulder shook his head as he left the manager's office intent on heading to Scully's room. This place was by far the creepiest one they had stayed in, what with its Scooby-Doo back rooms and trick doors.

God only knows if that man was watching Scully earlier, and if so, for how long. He shook his head again as he stepped up to her door and knocked, waiting for her to answer. When she did not, he knocked again, louder this time, and pressed his ear to the door.

He heard her moving around and a second later, before he had a chance to move, the door was pulled open and he stumbled forward slightly, catching himself on the doorframe.

"Jesus Christ, Mulder," she muttered and shook her head, stepping back to let him inside. "You scared the shit out of me." She closed the door with a sigh as he turned around and the words he was going to say died in his throat.

She was standing in front of him, her arms crossed and eyebrows up, wearing one of his old shirts.

And nothing else.

No pajama bottoms. No socks.

He slowly looked her up and down and she cleared her throat. His eyes traveled back to her face and he saw a smile twitching at her lips.

"Did you need something? Is there a reason you are knocking at my door at this late hour?"

"Yeeeah. Um… the manager… he was screaming about a monster-"

"A monster?"

"Yes."

"Okay," she said with a heavy sigh, "Let me hear it. But wait, please. Let me get more comfortable." She walked past him, mumbling about monsters not being real.

He watched her, his shirt covering her to mid-thigh, her legs appearing nearly golden in the light of the room. Watching her wearing his shirt, called up the nights when she wore other shirts of his to bed.

She would smile as she walked to bed and when he would run his hand up her smooth leg and push his shirt up her body, he would discover the reason for her smile- she would be wearing the shirt with nothing underneath.

Swallowing hard, he knew it would not be that way now, but the fact that she was wearing his shirt, on a case no less, made him wonder many things. She must have taken it when she left obviously, but bringing it with her when she usually wore silky pajama sets, made his mind race.

"Okay," she said, sitting down and adjusting the shirt. Taking a deep breath, she smiled at him and clasped her hands in her lap. "I'm ready, let's hear it."

"I was sleeping, having come back here at your request," he began, and she gave him one of her best Scully stares. He grinned and cleared his throat. "When I was suddenly awoken by someone screaming about a monster…"

"Mulder…"

"He saw it. A monster… the creature. I mean the manager saw a monster."

"Mulder…"

"Scully, just…" he said, putting up his hand and walking over to the table to pick up the case file. Looking at the papers held within, he nodded his head with a knowing smile. "I've hesitated to call it a "monster" as you may remember."

"I believe you said it was a "man-sized horned lizard with human teeth," she said, in a mocking tone as she used air quotes to emphasize her point.

He stared at her and shook his head as she tried not to smile. "And you thought that was silly."

"You said it, Mulder, I didn't. But… come on. It is a bit silly. A lizard man?"

"Yes! It sounds silly, I know. But…"

"But what?"

"It's a monster, Scully, plain and simple," he said, tossing the case file down on the end of her bed.

"And not just your everyday, run-of-the-mill monster, but we're talking transformation here. Man into monster and back again. To which I know you're going to say,"But Mulder, that only happens in werewolf myths that were originally concocted to explain away the violent behavior of people who'd been bitten by rabid animals, before the medical discovery of rabies." But is it so outlandish to believe that some legends are based on actual occurrences and not just ignorance?"

He saw her attempting to say something, but knew what she would say, so he cut her off, continuing with his explanation.

"To which I know what you're going to say, Scully, you're going to say, "But Mulder, it defies every known law of science and nature." Exactly, Scully, every known law. What if this creature that we've stumbled upon is here to create a whole new paradigm for our understanding of life itself? Or maybe science was used to create this "unnatural" being. Maybe this is some GMO experiment run amok by some military-agro-big-pharma corporation. Maybe this guy is its chief geneticist, who recklessly experimented on himself and now transforms into a fiend who needs to feast on human flesh. To which I know you're going to say, "But Mulder, that sounds like the paranoid ravings of some lunatic madman." I don't know what this thing is, Scully, and I don't know exactly how it came to be, I just... All I'm saying is, it's a monster."

He watched her nod slowly, smiling as she scrunched her chin. "Yeah, this is how I like my Mulder."

"So you're agreeing with me?"

"No! You're bat-crap crazy!"

He looked at her in surprise, touching the file on the bed. "But what about the facts?"

"What facts?"

"This guy, who the manager just saw turn into a monster," he said, stepping closer, and handing her his phone to show her the photo he took earlier, as he picked up the case file. "He was wearing the clothes of one of our victims, which we did not notice at the time, because we thought we were looking for an animal. Turns out we were only half right."

"Yeah, okay. Well, we need to talk to this guy."

"Well, I doubt he's coming back to his room," he informed her, taking the bottle of pills out of his pocket and showing them to her. "I did retrieve some personal items from it, though, that might help us track him down."

"Well, that sounds like a good investigative plan," she said, in a somewhat pacifying tone, which he chose to ignore.

"The first thing we need to do, though," he said, looking at the fox head hanging on the wall. "Check out of this motel."

"What? And leave this room full of such beautifully stuffed dead animals? Why would we do that, Mulder?" she asked, closing the file, and turning off his phone, as she waved her hand above her head. She rolled her eyes and stared at him.

"As much as they are… truly terrifying, trust me, Scully, we need to go," he said, putting the medication back in his pocket and coming to move the file and take back his phone. He raised his eyebrows and nodded.

"Seriously? Why?"

"Let's just say, the manager has his eye on us," he said, walking over to the fox head and taking it down, showing her the large hole on the wall.

"What the fuck?" she said, as she scrambled off the bed, and came to stand beside him.

"You think that's bad? Watch this." He handed her the fox head and grasped the cut out hole, giving it a sharp tug. The wall opened, as he knew it would, and she gasped.

He looked at her and nodded as she stepped forward into the padded hallway. Closing the wall, he told her to stand on the stool that was sitting there. With a loud sigh, she did and he saw her head appear where the fox had been hanging.

"Goddamn," she said and shook her head.

"Yeah," he answered and pulled the wall open again, to find her looking up and down the passageway.

"What kind of creepy ass Scooby-Doo shit it this, Mulder?" she asked, shaking her head.

He smiled and reached a hand out to take the fox head back from her. She stepped down and shook her head again as she looked around, before looking back at him.

"We need to call this in, this is not okay."

"Yeah, I know. We will."

"How did you know that was there?"

"Because, I saw a head similar to this in the room of… Guy Mann," he said, looking at the prescription bottle again. "Well, that's a ridiculous name… But anyway, I saw that and the large hole on the wall. Checking it out, I found the passageway of horrors and then…" He looked at her and she raised her eyebrows.

"And then what?"

"Well…" he said, gesturing toward the hole in the wall and the fox head in his hand.

"You were watching me?" she asked, trying not to smile.

"What? I wasn't watching you, nor did I know what I would find when I stepped up on that stool and looked through the holes."

She nodded but had a disbelieving look on her face. He shook his head at her as she stepped into the room and he closed the wall. He hung the fox head back up and turned to look at her.

"You know, Mulder… it's kind of pervy to spy on people."

"First of all," he said, sliding the bottle of pills in his pocket. "I wasn't spying on you, as I already stated, since I didn't know what I would find when I looked through those foxes eyes."

"Which foxes eyes? His?" she asked, nodding to the fox head. "Or yours?" She tried not to smile, but he saw her lips curling up and he shook his head with a laugh at her corny joke.

"Aww, Scully," he laughed and she shrugged with a big smile. "Both, I suppose."

"Mmm-hmm," she nodded and he smiled.

"Anyway, you were only sleeping. So, it wasn't like I saw anything." She stared at him and he raised his eyebrows, keeping his comment about having seen it all before to himself. "So… we… we should get out of here. Away from those creepy fox eyes." He nodded and she nodded back as he walked over to the door.

"Again, I feel I should ask, which foxes eyes?" she asked, and he turned around to find her smirking at him. He tilted his head as she shrugged and rolled her eyes with a smile.

"You were just sleeping," he told her again and she hummed. He laughed and reached for the doorknob, feeling brave and taking a chance. "And even if you weren't, it's not as though these fox eyes haven't seen it all before." He stared at her, worried he may have pushed too far, their reconnection still new and somewhat fragile.

"Touché," she said quietly with a smile, and he grinned as he opened the door.

"Be back in fifteen minutes," he said and she nodded.

When the agreed upon time was up, he knocked on her door and she was waiting for him, her jacket on over her shirt, or his shirt, to be more precise. He said nothing, but it made him smile.

He checked them out of their rooms, the manager still rattled and not paying him much attention. Mulder shook his head as he walked out, his eyes on the huge stuffed bear, ready to call the police about this perverted place once they were well away from it.

They drove to a new motel, one closer to town and decidedly not as sketchy. He glanced at Scully and she nodded with a shrug. They got out and booked two rooms, walking to them tiredly, their bags in hand.

Standing at their doors, he looked over at her and she sighed.

"Goodnight, Mulder. Or what's left of it," she said with a small smile.

"Hey, at least you won't have any creepy eyes watching you anymore," he shrugged and she nodded, her eyes traveling up and down his body. She opened her door and looked at him once more.

"Well, see you in the morning."

"Yeah. Sleep tight."

She put a hand to the collar of his shirt and rubbed it between her fingers, an almost secretive smile on her face.

"Oh, I will. Good night," she said quietly, and stepped into her room, closing the door behind her.

He grinned as he opened his own door, stepped inside, and closed it. He turned on the light and set his bag down, as he took off his shoes and jacket. Pulling the covers back, he fell into the bed. He rolled over as he imagined Scully on the other side of the wall, doing the same thing.

He hoped she would be able to get some rest, for a little bit anyway, content and cozy in one of his old shirts, without dreams of lizard men or fox eyes watching her.

Unwanted fox eyes at least.